Effect of exercise snacks (A Novel Strategy) on cardiorespiratory fitness and fasting blood sugar in inactive and overweight boys

Exercise snacks are defined as isolated ≤1-min bouts of vigorous exercise performed periodically throughout the day. Evidence gleaned from the studies suggests that vigorous exercise snacks are an effective strategy to improve CRF and indices of exercise performance in inactive adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the Effect of vigorous exercise snacks (A Novel Strategy) on cardiorespiratory fitness and fasting blood sugar in inactive and overweight boys

This study was a quasi-experimental study and 28 inactive and overweight adolescent boys [age: 13-18 years, Body Mass Index (BMI): 28.4±2.65 kg/m²] were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group performed an Exercise snacks protocol for six weeks and three sessions per week. Exercise protocol  involved3×1-min of Burpees (20 s), Jump squat (20 s) and walking high knees (20 s) separated by 1 to 4 hours of rest. VO2max and blood samples were obtained 48 hours before and after conducting the trianing protocol to measure the desired parameters. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA and paired-sample T-test.

After 6 weeks of exercise snacks, VO2max increased and Fasting blood sugar  decreased (P<0.05).

The results indicate that vigorous exercise snacks have the potential to improve the Fasting blood sugar status and VO2max of inactive and overweight adolescents.